1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to towel dispensing systems. More particularly, the present invention relates to towel dispensing systems that selectively apply a fluid to a towel as it is dispensed from the system.
2. Related Art
Towels that have been treated with a particular substance have been produced for some time. For example, so called “baby wipes” are towels treated with a mild cleaning agent or other substance for cleaning a baby's skin. Such wipes are generally treated with the cleaning agent or other substance and packaged into a container from which the wipes can be individually dispensed. Similar products sold include towels treated with detergent, hand cleaner, furniture polish, car wax, etc. Such products have been provided in a dispensing container that can be easily carried or stored within a vehicle of a consumer.
While such pre-treated products have met with some commercial success, they have proved costly and problematic, in that a consumer can generally only use the towels for the purpose for which the towels were treated. For example, the consumer can use the baby wipes to clean a baby's skin, but the wipes are not as effective in an application where a dry towel would perform best; or in the case where a towel treated with a different substance would perform best. Thus, in order to address the need for cleaning or treating a variety of surfaces, it has generally been necessary for a consumer to purchase multiple packages of towels.
In addition to products which dispense pre-treated towels, systems have been developed that allow consumers to apply a particular substance to a towel. In these systems, “dry,” or untreated, towels are dispensed and a consumer can apply the fluid to the towel if the consumer desires a treated towel.
These systems suffer from a variety problems as well. For example, many of these systems are designed to treat towels dispensed from conventional dry towel systems, such as paper towels dispensers or toilet tissue dispensers. As such, many of these systems are limited to applications in which a towel dispenser system is permanently mounted to an existing structure, such as is the case when a toilet tissue dispenser is mounted to a wall or cabinet structure. In these applications, the fluid application system is generally mounted to the same wall or cabinet structure. The resulting system is accordingly not easily portable and as a result can only be effectively used in applications near the wall or cabinet structure.
In addition, many of these systems involve highly sophisticated towel feeding mechanisms and fluid pumping mechanisms which are incorporated into the stationary structure. Such systems are not only overly complex and bulky, but often are configured to operate in only one, predetermined, orientation. As a result, even if such systems can be moved from one location to another, they must generally be placed or mounted on a stable support surface in the predetermined orientation to operate properly. In addition to not being operable in alternate orientations, the systems generally do not include fluid containment systems that contain the fluid in a variety of orientations. Thus, if the systems are moved or tipped, the fluid can spill or leak into a surrounding environment, or onto the supply of untreated towels.